MUNCIE, Ind. — Fifteen years after her death, Muncie's Turkey Lady, a forgotten military bride and once-familiar sight on the city's streets, is being remembered in an unusual manner: A beer was named in her honor.

Following Necla Ozsu's death in November 2001, articles in The Star Press told many Muncie residents what they didn't know about the 70-year-old, who died in a nursing home a few weeks after being declared an endangered adult by authorities. She was buried by the Center Township trustee in a pauper's grave in city-owned Beech Grove Cemetery.

For decades before her death, Ozsu was a fixture on Muncie's streets and sidewalks. She walked the streets for hours each day, her shock of white hair recognizable from a distance. Up close, she could be heard speaking the language of Turkey, where she grew up.

Passersby who got close to Ozsu were greeted by either a torrent of heavily accented obscenities or, if she didn't feel threatened by them, a smile and friendly "hello."

Ozsu is gone but hasn't been forgotten: Guardian Brewing Co. of Muncie honored Ozsu this month by creating a pale ale commemorating the "Turkey Lady."

'No we cry anymore'

Ozsu became a figure of local legend over the decades before her death in 2001. Her tragic history was known by some, but not all, of the people who saw her walking along the city's streets. Her daughter detailed much of it to The Star Press after her mother's death.

Ozsu's family lost their land in Russia in the early 1900s and moved to Turkey. Her mother died in giving birth to her in May 1931 and her father died when she was 13, leaving her in the care of two brothers.

She met her future husband, Thomas Marvin, while he was serving in the military and stationed in Turkey in the early 1960s. The two were married in Istanbul after he was discharged from the service and moved to Muncie, where Marvin became a police officer.

A sealed court file indicated an attempt to have Ozsu declared insane in March 1964. Marvin filed for divorce from Ozsu, and the divorce was declared final in February 1966. Marvin won custody of their daughter and Ozsu won custody of her son, although a court reversed that decision and the son was eventually put in his father's care.

Ozsu worked in a Muncie machine shop for a time. Her immediate family members moved out of Muncie and there was only sporadic contact with the woman who would soon become known as "The Turk," "Turkey Lady" and other nicknames.

Ozsu was thought of as homeless, but she lived in various local apartment buildings, including the Judson Building along Franklin Street downtown. The building has changed owners over the years and is now known as Sanders Flats, but real estate developer Ed Conatser recalled in 2001 that Ozsu was a tenant of the building when he bought it in 1997.

The building was remodeled and Conatser said he made it clear to Ozsu that she could stay. ""We remodeled one of the units and moved her in it, but she refused to stay. She wanted to go back to just one room. She didn't feel safe in a large apartment."

Before her death, she became unable to walk. A hospital report at the time she was committed to a local nursing facility noted her history of schizophrenia and "treatment for mental disorder." Cancer was ultimately the cause of death.

Her daughter told The Star Press in 2001 that she was reunited with her mother in the final days of her life.

In modern times, images and video of Ozsu in public would have been all over social media. At the time of her death in 2001, the only picture available was of Ozsu as a young mother, an image provided by Underwood. Efforts to reach the daughter, an Indianapolis-area resident, were unsuccessful in the past week.

Immortalized in beer

Not long before Thanksgiving, Guardian Brewing publicized its new Turkey Lady Cranberry Saison. A saison is a pale ale. Guardian planned to make the beer available only through the end of November.

The label for the Turkey Lady, brewed by Guardian Brewing Co. of Muncie, Indiana. The drawing is not one of Necla Ozsu.(Photo: Guardian Brewing Co.)

The woman depicted on the beer's label is not Ozsu due to the lack of available pictures of her.

"We try to embrace the local history of the city we call home when coming up with names for our beers," Guardian Brewing principal Bill Kerr told The Star Press.

Calling Ozsu "a well-known but misunderstood fixture of the downtown Muncie area for decades," Kerr said, "Her behavior grew increasingly unusual and withdrawn as she became an object of ridicule and misunderstanding. Her eccentric lifestyle and behavior was well-known, but many spoke of her kindness despite her tragic circumstances."

In 2001, her ex-husband told The Star Press that Ozsu, although mentally ill, was also strong-willed and caring.

"She was always a warm person," Thomas Marvin said shortly after her death. "She lived her life exactly the way she intended to live her life."

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.